Juliana Rotich

Executive Director

Juliana is Executive Director of Ushahidi Inc, a non-profit tech company. She brings to Ushahidi a mix of telecommunications, data warehousing, project management and leadership skills. She has been recognized as one of the world’s great 50 leaders by Fortune Magazine. Her personal mission is to make, fix and help others. She is a TED speaker and sought after commentator and strategist on technology, Innovation and Africa.

She is a board member of Bankinter Foundation for Innovation in Spain. She serves on the advisory council of Microsoft 4Afrika and Waabeh Ltd.

David Kobia

Director of Technology Development

David is a co-founder and technology lead at Ushahidi and brings more than 15 years of product development experience and a multidisciplinary background to his work, with a focus on social and emerging technologies. He works in a variety of roles, from designer and coder to strategist. After pursuing a BS in Computer Science at the University of Alabama, he has been a professional software developer and has worked with almost every web technology in use today. David is an MIT Fellow and in 2010, he was a recipient of MIT Technology Review’s TR35 award (35 top innovators under 35) and the Humanitarian of the Year award.

Nathaniel Manning

Director of Business and Strategy

Nathaniel’s work orbits around the theme of developing technology that makes the world a better place.

Nathaniel is the Director of Business and Strategy at Ushahidi. Nat also helps run business development for the BRCK, a redesign of connectivity for the developing world.

He was previously a Presidential Innovation Fellow, and then the first Chief Data Coordinator at USAID. The role involved working to develop tools and strategies for liberating data to fuel entrepreneurship and innovation for international development.

Nathaniel has also been an advisor to Runa Tea, a USA-Ecuadorian social enterprise. Previously, Manning was a financial associate for the Clean Energy team at the Clinton Climate Initiative, living in Bangkok and Melbourne and working throughout Asia-Pacific. Nathaniel holds a BA and MA from Brown University. You can find him on Twitter at @natpmanning.

Angela Oduor

Director of Community Engagement

Angela Oduor was born in Ukraine and raised in Nairobi, Kenya. Her work involves creating and managing programs for Ushahidi’s diverse community, as well as mentoring members of Ushahidi’s global open-source developer ecosystem. She has experience as a software developer since 2010 to date. She is passionate about building powerful platforms and providing technical support to users of Ushahidi’s cloud based system, Crowdmap in addition to all new tools Ushahidi makes.
She’s a first class honors’ graduate from Strathmore University, with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Information Technology.

She is also co-founder of AkiraChix, a non-profit organization that aims to develop a successful force of women in technology in Africa through training, mentorship and networking.

Seth Hall

Front-End Designer & Developer

Seth Hall is a Front-End Designer/Developer at Ushahidi. He feels most at home in the text editor, command line and browser and enjoys the challenge of writing modular, well structured and commented code, as much as splicing and interpreting a Photoshop Document. In his front-end toolbox, you can find HTML5, CSS3, Javascript, jQuery, Sass/Compass, Bower, RequireJS, Grunt, Jekyll, Git/Github and PHP/Wordpress, with more tools, technologies, libraries and frameworks being added as needed, it’s kind of an obsession. He considers device agnostic, responsive design essential to building modern web sites and web apps and strives to improve his craft with each build.

Seth considers himself a blessed man to be able to work in such a supportive and collaborative industry and after years of pursuing various forms of creative living (music, film, video) has found his home in the world wide web. In his free time you can find him drinking coffee with friends, reading, napping and hanging with his beautiful wife Elizabeth and their lovely kids Naomi and Oliver.

Esther Ondigo

Administrative Assistant

5 years experience as a customer service representative with a track record of success in meeting and exceeding customer expectations in top Organizations in the USA and Kenya. Holder of a Bachelors degree in Leisure and Hospitality Management and a Certified Hospitality Supervisor certificate awarded by American Hotels and Lodges, Also voted best intern of the year at The American Hospitality Academy. Previously worked for Radisson Resort in Orlando Florida, Fairmont The Norfolk, Fairmont Mara Safari Club, and m:Lab East Africa.Love singing, travelling,spending time in church, listening to music, and learning new things.

Gregory Omondi

Innovation Engagement Officer, MAVC

Gregory is a Msc. Mobile Innovation Telecommunication Graduate from Strathmore University and holds a Bsc. Business Information and Technology Degree from Strathmore University. He is one of the founding members of @iLabAfrica, an IT Research Centre under the Strathmore University Faculty of Information Technology, where he worked for two years as a Research Assistant.

As an Innovation Engagement Officer, his role involves identifying, assessing, selecting, contracting, and managing potential grantees in the Making All Voices Africa Countries for the innovation component.

He also wears the Grant Administration hat at Ushahidi, he is responsible for securing institutional support for Ushahidi’s projects and programs, as assigned. He is also responsible for conducting a full range of activities required to prepare, submit, and manage unrestricted operational and restricted project grant proposals to various funding sources.

Sharon Rutto

Quality Assurance Engineer

Sharon is a Nairobi based software developer. She recently graduated from Strathmore University with a degree in Business Information Technology. She started off as a Quality Assuarance Testing intern at Ushahidi where she developed a growing interest in we technologies. Prior to this she interned at CoreTEC Systems and Solutions and was part of the Support team for Microsoft Dynamics Nav ERP Systems. In her free time, Sharon loves baking, listening to music and spending time with family and friends. She also loves challenges, learning and discovering new things.

Sebastian Mitchell

UI Designer

Sebastian is a UI/UX designer and front-end developer. Technically a UK citizen, he grew up in various countries around the world, and doesn’t consider himself tied to one location. Before joining Ushahidi, Sebastian was the designer for an early-stage startup in Brazil, and worked as a contractor designing interfaces for mobile health and data collection projects. At Ushahidi, he designs the interfaces for customized deployments of the Ushahidi platform and projects built off the Crowdmap API. Sebastian’s hobbies include juggling, traveling to new countries, and reading about history and psychology.

Shadrock Roberts

Director, RNI

Shadrock applies geography to humanitarian and development challenges and has joined Ushahidi as Director of our Resilience Network Initiative: a multi-year project to provide TheRockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities with tools that strengthen situational awareness of community needs and improve municipal decision making. Prior to joining us, Shadrock was a founding member of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) GeoCenter, where he established new approaches to open data by combining traditional geographic information systems and crowdsourcing. Whether mapping economic development or producing geospatial data for risk reduction , his work transcends organizational boundaries, convenes diverse groups of stakeholders, and engages students and digital volunteers to create open data for improved decision making. Together with creative uses of technology he understands that holistic solutions must address organizational capacity and policy to ensure sustainability. Shadrock has also developed remote sensing techniques for refugee enumeration at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; co-founded participatory mapping initiatives for disaster response; and is currently making a concerted effort to (finally) finish his PhD at the University of Georgia. Despite all this, he remains addicted to fresh air and spends as much time as possible lost among big mountains. He tweets from @shadrocker.

Brian Herbert

Director of Technology Operations

Brian Herbert is the Director of Technology Operations with a focus on hosted services at Ushahidi. Before falling in love with Ushahidi in 2008, he was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kenya, worked with Esoko in Ghana as a software developer, and performed web maintenance at CNET. He received his MBA from Kennesaw State University and a BS in Computer Information Systems from Bellarmine University.

Daudi Were

Director, Making All Voices Count

Daudi Were is a Kenyan technology strategist, entrepreneur, social activist based in Nairobi, Kenya. He is regularly recognised as one of the most influential African voices online on technology and how it relates to accountability and transparency; the growth of social and citizen media and the way it is changing the world we live for the better; trends in technology; good information as the most powerful resource for development.

As Project Director at Ushahidi, Daudi manages key partnerships and custom Ushahidi deployments for organisations ranging from large multinational organisations to grassroots NGOs.

Henry Addo

Senior Developer

Henry is a software developer living in Accra, Ghana. He has worked as a software developer with several IT companies including Suuch Solutions, txtGhana, IDZ Ghana limited. He has also worked as a Java instructor at IPMC Ghana, an IT training institution.

He is passionate about open technologies and has been instrumental in the evangelism and advocacy of the use of Free and Open Source Software in Ghana. Henry enjoys riding on his motorcycle when he is not doing his professional work, practiceKarate Shotokan and traveling. You can read about his personal experiences with technology on his blog at Info zone.

Limo Taboi

Finance Director

Limo is a banker and blogger living in Nairobi, Kenya. Prior to joining Ushahidi, Limo worked as a banker in the Kenyan finance sector. He holds an MBA and dabbles in Nairobi Stock Exchange investments and real estate management. In the future, Limo plans to develop funding and finance links to the local tech community. He enjoys formula one racing and travel.

Linda Kamau

Senior Developer

Linda Kamau is a software developer based in Kenya with a degree in Business Information Technology. She develops both web and mobile applications. Before joining Ushahidi, Linda worked as a software developer with IT firms such as Ibidlabs, Ltd. and Mobile Pay, Ltd.

When not doing what she loves most (coding), she enjoys outdoor activities like camping. She is also a die hard Man U fan and can often be found watching the latest football match.

Robbie Mackay

Senior developer

Robbie Mackay is a software developer based in Auckland, New Zealand. He works on Ushahidi deployments and customisation with external partners. He has been part of the Ushahidi community since early 2011, and is an active member of the Standby Taskforce Tech Team.

Prior to joining Ushahidi, Robbie worked with charities and non-profits such as ActionAid, the UK Green Building Council and Greenpeace. Robbie has a BE in Computer Systems Engineering from Auckland University.

Robbie has just relocated back to Auckland from Oxford, UK to start a family, his first child is due in March.

Zack Halloran

Senior Developer

Zack is a web hack, MBA, and all around technology enthusiast focused on evolving and growing Crowdmap. His first experience on open source software projects came as the program manager at theIntelligent Health Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital. There he worked on open source Health IT platforms like Indivo and SMART. Prior to joining Ushahidi he was the CTO of RNsights, a company that builds online communities for healthcare workers where they can share experiences, knowledge and best practices. He is also the co-founder of EncouragePlay, a website dedicated to nurturing play skills in children, especially those who struggle with social interaction. You can follow his non-sensical ramblings @zackhalloran and @fullstackweb.

Declan Ottaro

South-to-South Lab Manager, MAVC

Declan is the South-to-South Lab Manager at Making All Voices Count. In this role, he hopes to see an increase in shared learning and collaboration among grantees from the two continents in the program.

Declan has a background in Computer Science and lives in Nairobi, Kenya.

Mathias Antonsson

Programme Manager, Making All Voices Count

Mathias is the Programme Manager on Making All Voices Count. He is from Sweden but now lives in Nairobi. He has also lived and worked in Australia and the US. Mathias has been working with ICT through Communications and Project Management for both the United Nations and the Swedish Development and Cooperation Agency for over five years. He started the @UN Twitter account, is a PRINCE 2 practitioner and has won a UN 21 Award which is awarded personally by the Secretary-General “to recognize the outstanding work of colleagues who advanced projects with great impact and innovative potential.” As a political scientist and through his previous employers Mathias brings a different perspective to the Ushahidi team. He occasionally blogs and you can reach him at @plurrify.

Celestine Kakai

Technical Project Manager Solutions Team

Celestine is a Technical Project Manager working in the Solutions Team, she is the key person between clients and our development team, helping to manage projects, timelines, and client needs. Celestine also helps run business development in the team.

She has a sales and technical background; she graduated from JKUAT with a Bsc Hons in Business and Information Technology and has since honed her skills while previously working at Oracle focusing on being the technical consultant to clients and working with the business development teams there. Her projects revolved around data projects with business intelligence as a focus.

Celestine is distinguished by her passion for business, her focus on collaborative team work, and her
commitment to meeting customer and market demands.

Staicy Gitau

Office Administrator, MAVC

Staicy has a Bachelor of Business Information Technology (BBIT) Graduate from Strathmore University and has a Master of Science Degree in Mobile Telecommunication Innovation from the same university. She is one of the founding members of @iLabAfrica, an IT Research Centre under the Strathmore University Faculty of Information Technology, where he worked for two years as a Research Assistant. At Making All Voices Count she works as an administrative assistant providing support for all the MAVC staff members located in Nairobi at the Ushahidi offices.

Monica Nthiga

Programme Officer, Africa – MAVC

Monica holds a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science and is currently pursuing a Masters in Economics (Cooperation and Human Development). She has prior experience in the implementation of programmes on ICTs and Governance, Border Security, Peace building and eLearning. Her role at Ushahidi involves identifying, assessing, selecting, contracting, and managing potential grantees in the Making All Voices Africa Countries for the innovation component.

Hyshyama Hamin

Programme Officer – Asia, MAVC

Hyshyama is Programme Officer Asia for Making All Voices Count. She was born in Sri Lanka, brought up in Nepal and has travelled and lived around South Asia. Hyshyama holds a Masters in International Human Rights and was a Fulbright Scholar and Sie Fellow at Josef Korbel School of International Studies. She has previous experience working in managing grants and programs particularly on gender based violence and women in peacebuilding in Sri Lanka, with a funding mechanism, and in Nepal with a national NGO. Hyshyama is also a 2009 International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) fellow. Her passions lie in the field of gender and human rights, humanitarian assistance and international law.

Brandon Rosage

Creative Director

Brandon leads Ushahidi’s design team in its effort to craft an outstanding experience for people who use the company’s products. The team contributes user experience, visual, user interface and front-end design to Ushahidi’s software and communication material.

He has spent most of his career crafting design systems for organizations focused on social good, including government agencies, news agencies, non-profit organizations and universities. He most recently worked with Happy Cog, an Austin- and Philadelphia-based design studio, leading much of its process for building and delivering web design systems to clients.

Charlie Harding

Director of Product Management

Charlie is an entrepreneur dedicated to social impact work. Before Ushahidi, he spent four years building infrastructure businesses and web technologies to bridge the digital divide at Google.org. He is also a co-founded of Runa, a social enterprise tea company working to conserve the Amazon. Charlie holds a BA in Development Studies from Brown University. He lives in Los Angeles, CA with his wife and many guitars.

Michelle Hamilton-Page

Marketing and Engagement Manager

Michelle Hamilton-Page is a digital strategist in online, social and mobile media working in the public health, hospital and NGO sector for the past 15 years. Michelle has led multiple health tech innovation projects, directing product development from concept through design and managing marketing of digital tools and resources targeting diverse communities and stakeholders.

As digital strategy lead, a few highlights of Michelle’s work includes a public health communicable diseases e-notification and resource mobile application, the development of a suite of social media platforms and strategies for allied health professionals, clients and families, and an evidence-based mobile application aimed at helping people cut back or quit drinking.

Michelle brings experience as a health promotion policy consultant, and in communications and social marketing in the private sector, with non-profits, and most recently the public sector. A sought after speaker locally and internationally, Michelle recently presented at South By Southwest (Austin, Texas, 2014) on gaming and health, at Youth+Tech+Health Live (San Francisco, California, 2014) on crowdsourcing health solutions, and at Addictions Mental Health on Moving Towards Social Maturity in the Healthcare Sector (Toronto, Canada, 2013). Michelle is involved with Toronto’s social innovation community and brings a passion for community and crowd-sourcing innovative solutions together with an on-going curiosity for new media and technology that facilitates open and dynamic communication.

Jess Shorland

Product manager, V3

Jess is a product manager focused on Ushahidi’s core platform. She studied game theory and war at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Go Heels!), and after working with a startup incubator and seed fund, moved to Nairobi, Kenya. During her four years there, she first worked in finance and then led product at the pan-African online car marketplace Cheki.

She recently relocated to Seattle, WA, where the coffee is almost as good as Pete’s. On nights and weekends, you can find her attempting to woodwork, being a twitter fan-girl of Elon Musk @jshorland, and patiently awaiting the elusive Seattle sun to find the next best hiking trail.

Vaibhav Bhawsar

Designer & Technologist

Vaibhav is a designer and technologist at Ushahidi. His current focus is in enabling projects at Ushahidi with simple yet powerful tools for visualizing and mapping information. His work often stems from a desire to envision powerful ways of knowing and engaging with the world through use of computational media and design. Vaibhav previously worked at Yahoo and was part of the design innovation team at Yahoo Brickhouse in San Francisco, an early product think-tank and incubator. He is also the co-founder and chief designer of Timescape.io – a interactive storytelling platform that uses maps and data visualization to narrate stories in geography and time. Vaibhav holds a master’s degree in design from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU, New York, and Srishti in Bangalore, India. He tweets at @voybhav.

Irene Wairimu

Financial Controller

As the Financial Controller, Irene is responsible of managing and overseeing the day-to-day financial operations of Ushahidi.

She earned her Bachelor degree from Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya and received her MBA from Point Park University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, graduating Summa Cum Laude. Irene is a member of Institute of Management Accountants and a candidate for Certified Management Accountant. Irene resides Silver Spring, MD in the USA. While not working, Irene enjoys keeping fit, raising her amazing daughter, volunteering, interior décor, fashion movies( in the next life I want to be a movie star) and travelling (Has a bucket list with about 30 cities hoping to visit around the world) .